Craft Beer Love May Help C-Ville Heal (even a little) This Saturday

With the tragic loss of life and images of hate seen around the world from Charlottesville this past weekend it may be hard to fathom a festival celebrating the best craft beer produced in the Commonwealth, but perhaps the Virginia Craft Brewers Festival, scheduled Saturday, August 19 in downtown C-Ville’s IX Art Park will provide some symbolic positive vibes for a city in mourning. Perhaps the festival will be less a celebration and more a healing hand.

More the 100 craft breweries from Virginia will be onsite sampling their beers. The event is designed by the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild as a showcase for the 2017 award-winning beers.

The actual awards ceremony was held on June 5 at Westrock headquarters in Richmond. The Virginia Craft Beer Cup competition was managed by master Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) judge Tom Cannon and 40 judges.

“Last year we made a conscious decision to move up the competition so that there would be more time to promote award-winning beers,” explained Brett Vassey, president and CEO of the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild. “This year – because it worked – we moved it up even further so that all the award-winning beers would be able to market their beers for the summer peak season and at our Fest in August, and then leading up to the fall season when they’ll do additional competitions.”

This year’s Best of Show winner went to Smartmouth Brewing Company’s Safety Dance, a pilsner.

The Virginia Craft Brewers Fest is from 2-8 PM. VIP entry begins at 1 PM. Food trucks will be onsite. Live music provided by Jackass Flats, the Deer Creek Boys, and Tara Mills/Jimmy Stelling.